Sheffield trio are still the best of friends

All age about 20 years with future husbands:
From left: Barbara Dalby (nee Roberts), Margaret Otter (nee Turton) and Jackie Dobson (nee Tasker)

Submitted by Margaret Otter, S12 — All age about 20 years with future husbands: From left: Barbara Dalby (nee Roberts), Margaret Otter (nee Turton) and Jackie Dobson (nee Tasker) Submitted by Margaret Otter, S12

Margaret Otter of Hollybank Way, S12, wrote in and sent in some pictures of herself and her childhood friends. She said: “I thought you might be interested in these old photos.

“We became friends at about eight years old at Bradway Junior School on Lowedges Road and are still friends to this day. We all went on to Jordanthorpe all-girls school in 1959 as first-year pupils in a brand new school.

Can anyone recognise friends or loved ones from this 1950`s photograph of the `James Neil`s` annual dance taken at the Cutler`s Hall.

“We will all be 70 this year so I am going to try and organise a reunion for later this year.”

Julie Wilson has written in about the Retro picture of the week, published on Tuesday.

She said: “My husband Tom’s parents, Mary and Tom Wilson, and uncleJohn and auntie Vera Belfield are in the middle of the photo at the front.

“They were tenants of the Milton Arms, Matilda and Brunswick Arms pubs. John was a cutler making knives and Vera was a nurse at Middlewood.”

Joyce Justice shared her memories of the famous Fiesta nightclub in Sheffield, which featured in Retro last Saturday (March 17). She wrote: “I went many times to the Fiesta, travelling up from Nottingham to see Motown stars there.

“I always used to queue outside the performers’ dressing rooms after the performance with the hope of seeing them in person.

“One star really stands out and that was Jimmy Ruffin. I got invited into his dressing room and he asked me if I would like a drink and he gave me a neat brandy that nearly choked me as I drank it straight down.

“He signed my LP record cover of him and put a personal message on it to me. He was a gentleman.

From left Margaret Otter (nee Turton), Barbara Dalby (nee Roberts) and Jackie Dobson (nee Tasker)
Friends from Bradway Junior School on Low Edges Road and Jordanthorpe School

Submitted by Margaret Otter, S12 — From left Margaret Otter (nee Turton), Barbara Dalby (nee Roberts) and Jackie Dobson (nee Tasker) Friends from Bradway Junior School on Low Edges Road and Jordanthorpe School Submitted by Margaret Otter, S12

“He had noticed me as I was sitting close to the stage and singing along with him in the performance.

“I had been invited by Osibisa, who I saw in the dressing room after the performance, and got invited to go with them to a party, but my then husband was with me and would not have approved in me going.

“I remember the tables – each one had a table lamp on. We used to get chicken in a basket and used to love getting up and dancing.I had long hair then and wore long white boots. I am sure in the past in Retro I was amongst the people dancing.

“The Fiesta was one of the only places that had Motown stars performing then, not too far from my home

“The Fiesta will remain forever in my heart, even though I am now in my late 70s and still love Motown music and the stars.

“Incidentally I am a Retro member and have lived in Sheffield for the last nine years. I divorced my previous husband and am now married to a Sheffield man.”